Tentative Deal Is Reached in Writers’ Strike. (Frickin’ Sweet)
A resolution would be good news for the producers, who have been patching together prime-time schedules with reruns and reality shows and have delayed their feature film plans. It would also bring relief to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which was nervously making plans for an Oscar night without writers or stars.
Late-night talk shows that have operated without writers would benefit immediately. Shows like NBC’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” are already inviting writers back to work on Monday, assuming the strike ends. Television series like Fox’s “24” and “Back to You” would likely take weeks to get back in production. Weaker shows might not return at all, and shake-ups in network planning might delay the return of some shows, even though production would soon be possible.
Word of the tentative deal came Saturday in an early morning e-mail message to members of the Writers Guild of America West and the Writers Guild of America East. The deal was to be reviewed by members at previously scheduled mass meetings here and in New York later in the day.
In their e-mail message, Patric M. Verrone, president of the West Coast guild, and Michael Winship, his East Coast counterpart, said: “Much has been achieved, and while this agreement is neither perfect nor perhaps all that we deserve for the countless hours of hard work and sacrifice, our strike has been a success.”
While approval appears likely, members have warily debated the expected agreement all week, and they are certain to scrutinize the details closely at the Saturday meetings. A guild spokesman on Saturday morning declined to confirm plans for Sunday board meetings. A spokesman for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents over 300 production companies, also declined comment.
The walkout, Hollywood’s longest since writers struck for five months in 1988, closed down dozens of television shows, slowed development of feature films and threw tens of thousands of people out of work.
Writers had demanded a much bigger share of returns from new media than they had received in the past from the distribution of shows on older media like cassettes and DVDs, as well as expanded jurisdiction over reality television and animated features.
Company representatives initially responded by insisting on a complete revamping of Hollywood’s time-honored residuals system, under which writers, directors, actors and others are paid for reuse of their work on television and home video.
As the more expansive demands for wider jurisdiction and a narrowing of residuals were dropped, the sides were finally left with a more conventional negotiation. That turned on precise amounts of, and methods for calculating, payments for the growing digital distribution of shows in the next three years.
In Hollywood, excitement about a possible return to work has been dampened by widespread realization that the Screen Actors Guild, which represents 120,000 actors, is approaching a contract negotiation no less difficult than the writers’ talks. A contract with the actors guild expires June 30, and leaders of that union have repeatedly signaled that they intend to take a tough stance in negotiations. Anticipation of a walkout by actors has created a recent frenzy of feature firm production, as studios stockpiled movies based on existing scripts, but scheduled virtually no production to begin later than early April.
The board of the actors guild was scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on Saturday to discuss plans by the long-allied American Federation of Television and Radio Artists — whose 70,000 members overlap with the screen actors’ membership and which covers a number of television series — to negotiate with companies on its own as early as next month. The federation’s stance on some crucial issues has been aggressive than that of the actors guild.
The 300 strike captains were deeply divided as to whether the strike should be lifted before a full membership vote.
“Returning to work prior to an actual vote signaled it was over and felt undemocratic,” the memo sent to some guild members said, in summarizing the discussion. “Others felt the deal was being ‘rammed down our throats’ too quickly,” while still others felt that “returning to work was imperative.” If members balk at an immediate return, the guilds could organize a rapid-fire vote by fax, Web and meeting, polling writers over the next few days rather than ending the strike by board action. An accelerated member vote might put writers back to work by Wednesday.
The tentative agreement became possible when the sides reached a handshake deal last week on a crucial term under which writers would be paid a fixed residual amounting to about $1,300 for the right to stream a television program online. In the third year of their contract, the writers would achieve one of their major goals — payments amounting to 2 percent of the distributor’s revenue from such streams.
The percentage formula is viewed by many writers as protection against the possibility that traditional reruns — which have paid them residuals amounting to tens of thousands of dollars per episode in the past — will disappear because of Web streams in the near future.
Other major gains include a pay plan that pegs residuals for electronic downloads of movies and televisions shows at nearly double the rate paid historically for DVDs, and calculates the rate as a percentage of the distributor’s revenue, junking an old formula.
The tentative agreement grew from a week-long, and sometimes heated, exchange of contractual provisions. Informal talks between guild leaders and key executives — primarily Robert A. Iger, the chief executive of the Walt Disney Company, and the president of News Corporation, Peter A. Chernin — began immediately after companies reached a deal with the Directors Guild of America last month, pointing toward solutions that helped resolve the dispute with writers.
Television viewers began seeing the effects of the strike firsthand in the last few weeks, as scripted shows faded further into reruns and networks started promoting reality shows like “American Gladiators” on NBC that do not employ guild writers. The Golden Globes ceremony, a showy precursor to the Oscars, was reduced to a news conference when actors agreed to not cross picket lines.
At the Friday strike captains’ meeting, Mr. Verrone said his guild had achieved two of its three prime objectives but securing coverage over Internet work and locking in a residuals formula for new media. According to the memorandum describing the meeting, Mr. Verrone called the failure to win jurisdiction over reality television and animation “a heartbreaking loss for him personally,” though he vowed to continue the fight.
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My Turn.
So that helps out a bit, and i’m glad its going to work out, but there is still going to be a lull in entertainment in the way of shows ,like 24 might not air new shows until next year and most shows that will start up again won’t have new material until the fall. Which means the music business would be smart to really try and push a lot of live shows, festivals, new music, anything, really get out there and try and hit what they can; because people have been watching the reruns they would be watching in the Summer right now and while reality shows (like rock of love 2 (vh1), the Apprentice , celebrity edition (NBC), etc) will be out there pumping sad material for people to watch, new shows of hit shows will be a long time coming (the office, family guy, etc).
You can see in how many game shows have sprung up ( bringing American Gladiators back, the power of ten, etc.), so I think comedians and musicians could really profit from this lull by being out there and offering something else for bored people to do, aside from reading dorky blogs, spending time online, oplaying guitar hero, Halo 3, or going to the movies. (oops.)
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Overall, I’m happy the writers didn’t back down and that a compermise is getting set and met, but I’m also just wondering about the possibilities out there from other people in the entertainment business and want to make some of that happen. I hope that this year is a big year in live music and music in general and I know I’m going to be working on odd projects making me busy and helping people promote their stuff.
Sorry for the odd rant.
Rochelle.
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